Review by Laura Lee -- The Ultimate Guide For The Avid I...

[Laura Lee]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Ultimate Guide For The Avid Indoorsman" by John Driver.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Honestly, I had a grin on my face from the very first page. Literally! Who wouldn’t like a book (allegedly) endorsed by Winston Churchill? (“I wish I would have had such a book when I was alive.”)

If you’re a happy couch potato, or even if you’re not, and you enjoy off-beat humor, John Driver’s Ultimate Guide for the Avid Indoorsman is for you. If you’re a guilty couch potato, this book will provide all the justification you could ever need for a cheerfully unapologetic sedentary life, making your home into a hermitage.

Driver’s mission is to boldly go where no man (save, possibly, Gene Roddenberry) has gone before. He takes a lifestyle many desire, but are too ashamed to admit it, and elevates it to a position to which all should aspire: moving from a life out there to one in here. Driver sympathetically acknowledges the vulnerability felt by those who have been shamed into hiding their natural inclination to indoor living in a world that, until now, has only respected Outdoorsmen. He states: “For far too long, a global tribe of brave Indoorsmen have needlessly languished in the shadows of shame and obscurity…or in some cases, just their parents’ basements” (p. 14).

The book is a veritable feast for logophiles. Using rather dry, scholarly sounding words, the author achieves a level of humor that is often downright hilarious by solemnly declaiming the most ridiculous, contradictory statements. Each page is lavished with clever turns of phrase and new (and improved) use of clichés to make his point. Exuberantly free verbal association through liberal use of similar words produces such sentences as: “The French press method of preparing coffee is a lot like what would happen if a French fry method of eating potatoes had a baby with a bench press method of lifting weights. The result is delicious strength” (p. 140).

Driver flagrantly and merrily misquotes famous people throughout the book to support his thesis, such as this gem from the pen of Henry David Thoreau: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation [indoors]” (p. 17).

But the book is more than a rich banquet of words. It also contains practical advice. For example, among his “Five Baby Steps for Avid Outdoorsman Growth,” appears this wise counsel: “Stop visualizing what every animal you see, including your family pets, might look like mounted on your wall” (p. 44).

Driver’s analysis of the Outdoorsman as literal and physical compared to the Indoorsman as metaphorical and spiritual has overtones of Parmenides of Elea, the Greek philosopher whose inquiries into the nature of existence has led modern thinkers to dub him the “Father of Metaphysics.” This is what Driver has accomplished in this seminal work: justification for joyful, unrepentant indoor-living.

Although the vocabulary is more advanced than that typically used in most non-scholarly books, it is not difficult to understand. Line drawings and comparison charts help clarify his points which may be initially difficult for some to grasp since so many are accustomed to viewing the Outdoorsman as the pinnacle of manliness, while viewing the Indoorsman as but a pale, pasty imitation of a true man.

A book review, by its very nature, has the reviewer looking for flaws. But honestly, I didn’t find any. This book definitely deserves 4 out of 4 stars. It was a pleasure to read, and I can’t recommend it highly enough, even to the Outdoorsman in your life for whom it is impossible to find gifts. Perhaps, just perhaps, he secretly longs to be an Indoorsman, too. This book will give him permission to pursue the life that, up to now, he has been too ashamed to admit he desires.

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The Ultimate Guide For The Avid Indoorsman
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Laura Lee]

Who else has read this fun survival guide? What was your favorite element of the book?

[Kanda_theGreat]

I can't resolutely classify myself an either an Indoorsman or an Outdoorsman, but I believe I'll figure that out once I read the book.
Thank you for the review.

[Rayasaurus]

I haven’t read this book yet, but it’s going on my list thanks to your review! It sounds like a wonderfully interesting time. I’m always up for learning more vocabulary words too! Thank you for the review.

[Adina Lutinger]

This book sounds so so fun! I'm definitely going to read it. Thanks for the great review!

[Laura Lee]

I can't resolutely classify myself an either an Indoorsman or an Outdoorsman, but I believe I'll figure that out once I read the book.
Thank you for the review.

Thanks for leaving a reply, Kanda! It really is a delightful book. I thoroughly enjoyed it the whole way through.

[Laura Lee]

I haven’t read this book yet, but it’s going on my list thanks to your review! It sounds like a wonderfully interesting time. I’m always up for learning more vocabulary words too! Thank you for the review.

Thanks for stopping by, Rayasaurus. I honestly grinned and laughed my whole way through the book. It's a fun one.

[Laura Lee]

This book sounds so so fun! I'm definitely going to read it. Thanks for the great review!

Thanks for stopping by. I wish this book was a Book of the Day. It really is a great book.

[mmm17]

This one seems to be right up my alley. I could sure profit from good-humoured justifications for joyful, unrepentant indoor-living.
Thank you for a wonderful review!

[Laura Lee]

This one seems to be right up my alley. I could sure profit from good-humoured justifications for joyful, unrepentant indoor-living.
Thank you for a wonderful review!

Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment! I really appreciate it. Yes, this really is a fun and delightful book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Sanju Lali]

Wow! your review make it clear that this is humorous book and especially when for a couch potato, this book justifies a cheerfully unapologetic sedentary life. I should grab this book sometimes very soon.

[Laura Lee]

Wow! your review make it clear that this is humorous book and especially when for a couch potato, this book justifies a cheerfully unapologetic sedentary life. I should grab this book sometimes very soon.

It is a really fun book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It would even make a fun tongue-in-cheek gift for someone who is an avid outdoorsman! LOL Thanks for reading the review and leaving a response.

[Connie Otwani]

Who wouldn’t like a book (allegedly) endorsed by Winston Churchill? (“I wish I would have had such a book when I was alive.”)

How funnier can it get!
Do you think if I get this for my boss she will let me 'work' from my couch?! The book sounds hilarious. You have sold it to me. Great review!

[Laura Lee]

Who wouldn’t like a book (allegedly) endorsed by Winston Churchill? (“I wish I would have had such a book when I was alive.”)

How funnier can it get!
Do you think if I get this for my boss she will let me 'work' from my couch?! The book sounds hilarious. You have sold it to me. Great review!

Ahhahaha! It's worth a try! It's a fun book and humor stays high throughout. It's rare for me to find a book where I find myself laughing aloud, literally. Thanks for reading and leaving a comment!

[djr6090]

Exuberantly free verbal association is a terrific illustrative phrase. I enjoy reading your reviews.